astronaut

Where does the word "astronaut" come from? It comes from Greek astron, and was adopted directly into English (1920s).

Astronaut’s story begins in Greek: astron meant “star.” Star, combined with nautes (sailor) to mean star-sailor. It reached English by 1920s as astronaut. Coined for a traveler among the stars, later applied to real space travelers. Today, astronaut means a person trained to travel in a spacecraft.

1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient astron "star", star, combined with nautes (sailor) to mean star-sailor.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1920s astronaut "a space traveler", coined for a traveler among the stars, later applied to real space travelers.